Ancient materials an inspiration

Members of the Alpha Arts Consultative Group Nola Halloran, Wayne Rostron and Benny Fuentes with Barcaldine Regional Council’s Elizabeth Wilkie.

A FOCAL point of flood recovery activities in Alpha is the Fossilised Forrest Arts Installation, a public art project featuring petrified wood from the district estimated to be about 270 million years old.

Funded under the Queensland Government Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation's Minor Tourism Infrastructure Plan, the aim of the project is to encourage motorists to stay longer in Alpha and connect the area's ancient history with the emerging coal mining industry.

Barcaldine Regional Council's Alpha-based community development officer Elizabeth Wilkie said the project would add to the Linger Longer Strategy in the retail precinct.